Ali Farka Touré facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ali Farka Touré
Background information
Birth name	Ali Ibrahim Touré
Born	(1939-10-31)31 October 1939 Timbuktu Region, Mali
Origin	Niafunké, Mali
Died	6 March 2006(2006-03-06) (aged 66) Bamako, Mali
Genres	Blues Malian Folk Folk Desert blues
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Cabasa, Njarka
Labels	World Circuit

Ali Ibrahim "Ali Farka" Touré (born October 31, 1939 – died March 6, 2006) was a famous singer and musician from Mali, a country in Africa. He was known for playing many different instruments. Ali Farka Touré was one of Africa's most well-known musicians around the world.

His music mixed traditional Malian sounds with African American blues music. He is seen as a pioneer of a style called desert blues. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Touré as number 76 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." Spin magazine also put him at number 37 on their "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list.

After he passed away, some musicians who played in his style formed groups like the Ali Farka Touré Allstars (in 2012) and later the Ali Farka Touré Band (in 2014).

Growing Up

Ali Farka Touré was born in 1939 in a village called Kanau. It was located on the banks of the Niger River in the Tombouctou Region of Mali. His family belonged to the Arma community. They moved to a nearby village called Niafunké when he was a baby. His father died in 1940 while serving in the French Army. Ali was the tenth child his mother had, but he was the only one who lived past infancy.

Touré once explained that his parents gave him the nickname "Farka." This nickname means "donkey" in his language. Donkeys are admired for being tough and stubborn. He liked to say, "I'm the donkey that nobody climbs on!" This showed his strong will. Ali Farka Touré was part Songhai and part Fula.

How Ali Farka Touré Started in Music

In Malian society, playing music was traditionally done by a special group of people called "Griots." These were like storytellers and musicians. Since Ali Farka Touré came from a "Noble" family, he was not supposed to play musical instruments. But he didn't let that stop him! He secretly made his own instrument, a monochord, from a tin can and played it with his friends.

As a young adult, Ali Farka Touré worked different jobs, like being a driver and working on an ambulance boat. But a performance by the national ballet of Guinea in 1956 changed his life. The guitar playing he heard during that show made him want to learn the instrument himself.

In the 1960s, Mali held national talent competitions. These events aimed to bring together different groups of people in the newly independent country. These included the Bambara from the south, the nomadic Tuareg from the north, and the Fula and Songhay from the Sahel region. Touré learned a lot from these competitions. He soaked up the music of all these different cultures and learned to sing in seven languages!

Ali Farka Touré was very successful at these competitions. He even went to Bulgaria to represent Mali on the international stage. During this trip, he bought his first guitar. It was also the first time he heard music from African Americans in the United States. He immediately loved it. He especially liked the music of John Lee Hooker. Touré felt a deep connection to this music, saying it felt like it belonged to his own culture.

Even though many people called Touré "The African Bluesman," he always said his music was not blues. He believed his music was much older than the blues style.

His Music Career

Ali Farka Touré was the first African blues musician to become widely popular in Africa. Because of his unique style, he was often called "the African John Lee Hooker." His music often featured many layers of guitars and rhythms, similar to John Lee Hooker's captivating blues sound. He usually sang in one of several African languages, such as Songhay, Fulfulde, Tamasheq, or Bambara. His breakthrough album, Ali Farka Touré, helped him become famous in the world music community.

Touré's first job in music was as a sound engineer at Radio Mali in Bamako. This job was important because it gave him access to the radio station's recording studio, which was the only one in Mali at the time. Touré sent recordings of his music to different record labels in France. This led to him releasing a series of albums in the late 1970s and early 1980s, simply titled ‘Ali Farka Touré’.

In 1986, Ali Farka Touré gained attention in Britain. This happened when songs from one of his albums, known as ‘the red album’, were played on British radio. British DJ Andy Kershaw found ‘the red album’ in Paris. He bought it because the album cover stood out to him. When he listened to it back home in North London, he realized it was something special. Playing a few tracks on his show on BBC Radio 1 caused a huge reaction from his listeners.

This caught the attention of Anne Hunt from 'World Circuit Records'. In the mid-1980s, Hunt traveled to Mali to find Ali Farka Touré. She eventually found him by broadcasting a message on Radio Mali asking for information about him. World Circuit Records brought him to Britain for the first time in 1987. Touré went on to record seven albums with them.

Some of his early albums included interesting collaborations. For example, he worked with Seán Keane and Kevin Conneff from the band The Chieftains on the album The River in 1990. He also collaborated with Nitin Sawhney and American blues musician Taj Mahal on The Source in 1992. His most famous collaboration in the early 1990s was the 1994 album Talking Timbuktu with Ry Cooder. Cooder later said that Touré didn't like recording the album in the Hollywood studio. He described it as a place with "bad energy" and the USA as a "spiritual car park."

Touré's first concert in North America was in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. The album Talking Timbuktu (1994) sold well in Western countries. After this, he took a break from releasing music in America and Europe. He returned in 1999 with Niafunké, an album that focused more on traditional African rhythms and beats. Ali Farka Touré was also the mentor and uncle of the popular Malian musician Afel Bocoum.

In 2002, Touré appeared with Black American blues and reggae artist Corey Harris on an album called Mississippi to Mali. Touré and Harris also appeared together in Martin Scorsese's 2003 documentary film Feel Like Going Home. This film explored the origins of blues music in West Africa. The film featured Ali's performances on guitar and njarka.

Ali Farka Touré strongly supported the idea of moving the Festival au Désert to Timbuktu. He performed the closing concert at the festival every year from 2003 until 2006.

In September 2005, Touré released the album In the Heart of the Moon, which he made with Toumani Diabaté. This album earned him a second Grammy award. His last album, Savane, was released after he passed away in July 2006. It was highly praised by both music experts and fans. It was even nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary World Music Album." Music experts in Europe chose Savane as their Album of the Year in 2006.

In February 2018, Touré's music was featured in the movie Black Panther. His song "Bèrèbèrè" with Idrissa Soumaoro was used in the film.

His Life Outside Music

In 2004, Ali Farka Touré became the mayor of Niafunké, his hometown. He used his own money to improve the roads, build sewer canals, and power a generator that gave the town electricity. He cared deeply about his community.

Death and What He Left Behind

On March 6, 2006, the Ministry of Culture of Mali announced that Ali Farka Touré had died at age 66. He passed away in Bamako from bone cancer, which he had been fighting for some time. His record label, World Circuit, shared that he had recorded several songs with his son, Vieux Farka Touré, for Vieux's first album.

The Ali Farka Touré Foundation was created to honor him and continue his musical legacy. This foundation helps keep his music and ideas alive.

Musicians who played in his style performed as the Ali Farka Touré Allstars at the last Festival au Désert in Timbuktu in 2012. In 2017, the Ali Farka Touré Band (formed in 2014) played in New York City. The band included lead singer Afel Bocoum, djembe player Souleymane Kane, guitarists Aly Magassa and Mamadou Kelly, and electric bass guitarist Oumar Diallo.

Discography

• 1976 – Ali Touré Farka
• 1976 – Spécial « Biennale du Mali »
• 1978 – Biennale
• 1979 – Ali Touré Farka
• 1980 – Ali Touré dit Farka
• 1984 – Ali Farka Touré (Red)
• 1988 – Ali Farka Touré (Green)
• 1988 – Ali Farka Touré
• 1990 – African Blues
• 1990 – The River
• 1992 – The Source (with Taj Mahal)
• 1994 – Talking Timbuktu (with Ry Cooder)
• 1995 – The Rough Guide to West African Music (contributing artist)
• 1996 – Radio Mali
• 1999 – Niafunké
• 2002 – Mississippi to Mali (with Corey Harris)
• 2004 – Red&Green
• 2005 – In the Heart of the Moon (with Toumani Diabaté)
• 2006 – Savane
• 2010 – Ali and Toumani – (with Toumani Diabaté)

Filmography

• 2002 – Ali Farka Touré – Le miel n'est jamais bon dans une seule bouche – a documentary film by Marc Huraux
• A Visit to Ali Farka Toure was released on DVD in the UK by Digital Classics DVD.
• I'll Sing for You, 2001

Grammy Awards and nominations

See Also

• African fingerstyle guitar
• African music